It's Summer!

Beach Days are finally here! To celebrate, at Storytime we read books about the ocean and the beach. Miranda's Beach Day by Holly Keller told about a child and her mom spending time at the beach and showed a beautiful sand castle. Surfer Chick by Kristy Dempsey was about the daughter of a famous surfer and how hard she worked to learn to surf like her dad. Our last story, Bats At The Beach by Brian Lies told about all the fun things bats did when they flew to the beach one night.

Using a paper plate as a base, we made ocean scenes showing some of the things you might find at the beach. A sandpaper strip at the bottom was the beach sand, then strips of tissue paper in blues and greens were glued on to make the water. Some fish and a crab could be colored to add to the scene, but plain paper was also provided so kids could add their own creatures - an octopus, a dolphin, a starfish, even some seaweed and a mermaid were all drawn, colored, cut out, and glued to the scene.

Have fun at the beach - Happy Summer!

How'd He DO That? The Magic of Andrew Pinard!

Our Summer Reading Program kicked off tonight with an amazing performance by award-winning performer Andrew Pinard. The downstairs room was packed and full of wonder and laughter as Andrew Pinard wowed children and adults alike with his magic and entertaining stories. What a fabulous night!

When the show was over, several young audience members bolted upstairs and took out every kids' book about magic that the library owns! One adult said it was the best children's program he had seen. What an impression Andrew Pinard made! 

This performance was funded in part by a Kids, Books, and the Arts grant from the Institute for Museum and Library Services with an added contribution by the Friends of the Gordon-Nash Library. Thank you to both groups for bringing such a wonderful talent to New Hampton and our Summer Reading Program. 

Tuesday Night!!

Summer Reading Programming begins tomorrow! If you haven't already done it, stop in at the library and sign up for the Summer Reading Program. Then head downstairs with your family to see the amazing show of Andrew Pinard, magician extraordinaire! 

Signing Up for Summer Reading!

This morning was our big kick-off for our Summer Reading Program, Every Hero Has A Story! Kids came and signed up, got new library cards, and did the drop-in Superhero craft or colored some of the Superhero coloring papers. There was a Superhero Scavenger Hunt where kids tried to find all of the superheroes hidden in the library. There was a chance to win a door prize (congratulations to Alex, Connor, and Philip!). Thanks to Bristol Shop 'n Save for the donation of the beautiful (and super-yummy!) cake!

If you missed the today's sign up, there's still time! Tuesday night at 6:30pm is our first program (with magician Andrew Pinard!). Come to the library before the show and sign up with Mrs. Simard. Check out some good books, then go downstairs with your family and watch some magic! What a way to start the summer!

Come to the Summer Reading Program!

This week, I visited New Hampton Community School to tell students in each class about our Summer Reading Program, Every Hero Has a Story. In several classes, I even had a chance to read a book! Each child received a superhero bookmark to take home that lists our Tuesday night programs. I hope this smiling face and lots of others come on down to the Gordon-Nash this summer!

The Circus!

The circus is coming to town next week, so at this week's Storytime, we all got into the act! We first read The Circus Ship by Chris VanDusen (on loan from the NHCS library), about a group of circus animals that swam to an inhabited island after their ship sunk. Then we read Olivia Saves The Circus by Ian Falconer, about Olivia who may or may not have been the star of the show! After our craft, we read the tongue-twisting and funny If I Ran the Circus by Dr. Seuss.

We colored and stamped, "pom-pom"d and spangled a flat sheet of white paper, then twisted it into a cone shape and stapled it.

A bunch of colorful paper streamers was added out the top and yarn to tie up was fastened at the bottom. And - we had clown hats (with red rubber noses, too)! We're ready for the circus!

Primary Patrons: Lego Challenge

Free play with Legos was a huge hit with this New Hampton Community School Project Promise group the first time they visited the library eight weeks ago. To celebrate our final session, we brought out the Legos once more. After listening to Build, Dogs, Build: a Tall Tail by James Horvath, kids were given the challenge to build a Lego creation that depicted a book they had read.

Can you identify this book by looking at this Lego structure? Here's a hint: those minifigs are Jack and Annie!

Crazy 8s: Bouncing Dice

Did you know that opposite sides of dice add up to 7? This is one of the things the NHCS Crazy 8s Kids learned as we problem-solved and investigated with dice games. We noted the number of times each number showed up in an explosion of bouncing dice. But we spent most of our time playing a life-sized Bingo game where we were the chips. Rolling three dice for each turn, we strategically calculated and manipulated the numbers shown on the dice to land ourselves on the most advantageous number on the Bingo floor.  There were lots of shouts of "BINGO"!

This was our final Bedtime Math session of the year. Thanks to Mr. McCann, Mrs. Doucette, and the NASD Project Promise Program for allowing the Gordon-Nash to work with these fabulous NHCS kids! 

Sign Up Day - A Week Away!

One week until our big sign-up event for the Gordon-Nash Summer Reading Program! Drop in on Saturday, June 20th, between 10:30 and 1:30 to sign up, put your name star on the bulletin board, register for a door prize, do the Superhero Scavenger Hunt, and have some refreshments. If you can't come Saturday, drop in any time and ask at the desk about signing up. The Summer Reading Program begins on Tuesday, June 23rd at 6:30, with a magic show by Andrew Pinard. Bring the family!

Dinosaurs for Dads

In two weeks, it will be Father's Day, so, in anticipation, today we read books about dads. Daddy Makes the Best Spaghetti by Anna Grossnickle Hines told about the silly things that fathers sometimes do to delight their children. In Hooray for Father's Day! by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat, Mr. Mule's two children spend the special day giving their father present after present, when all he really wants is some peace and quiet.  Finally, Dad's Dinosaur Day by Diane Dawson Hearn told about a father whose behavior changed when he became a dinosaur for a day. ROAR!

We made dinosaurs from two letter Ds. We decorated them with triangle spikes and added heads and legs. Some children made spikes for dinosaur horns. Some added crayoned faces and smiles. And some added an A to the two Ds to make their dinosaurs spell DAD.

The all of us had a dinosaur parade, complete with roaring! We surely do love parades at Storytime!!

Primary Patrons: Amphibians

The NHCS Primary Patrons came to the library again this week and learned a bit about amphibians. In honor of these creatures, we read a story from The Frog and Toad Treasury by Arnold Lobel. Then we flipped through a few other amphibian books, identifying them as fiction or nonfiction and telling how we knew which was which. Miss Markey then produced a fact sheet about frogs and toads and, as the students read the facts, they compared and contrasted information about the two amphibians. Then they filled in a Venn diagram with pertinent facts. Finally, they colored a simple template, making the outline look like either a frog or a toad, and told what features they had included. It was fun work!

Crazy 8s: Zip Line!

The Crazy 8s Kids did more measuring this week while constructing zip lines for tiny stuffed animal rides. They again used tape measures to measure the lengths of the lines and the height at which it was being attached to the wall. They used protractors to measure the angles made by the zip line and the surface of the floor. They used stopwatches to time the animal's rides. And they made conclusions about speed based on their combinations of measurements. The final ride - from the top of the door casing on a 15' line. Wheeee!

Butterflies & Very Hungry Caterpillars

Have you seen caterpillars this Spring? We have! In Storytime this week, we read about caterpillars and butterflies, then made our own caterpillar jewelry! 

First, we heard a story called Don't Worry Bear by Greg Foley, about a little bear who was concerned about his friend the caterpillar, especially when he was gone from sight. Clara Caterpillar by Pamela Duncan Edwards was about the adventures of some caterpillar friends who turned as they turned into different butterflies, and it was full of words that started with the "c" sound. Waiting for Wings by Lois Ehlert was a colorful book about caterpillars turning into butterflies. We finished up with the favorite The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. Children knew this book so well, they could finish sentences as I read!

Then we made "Very Hungry Caterpillar" necklaces using short lengths of green straws and cut out red circles strung onto a piece of yellow yarn. We made his head with yellow eyes and black antenna and made him smile! Parents tied these around the children's necks and everyone left with their own caterpillar. Cute!

Crazy 8s Club: Flying Marshmallows!

The Crazy 8s Club at New Hampton Community School this week measured distances after constructing simple spoon catapults and rubber band slings to fling marshmallows! They measured to half-inches and recorded their results using tape measures. They altered their tools and techniques and made second attempts.  Who knew measuring and comparing distances could be so much fun?

2015 Summer Reading Program

Finally, it's June - and time to think about the Gordon-Nash Library's Summer Reading Program!

Our programs will be held each week on Tuesday nights from 6:30-7:30, beginning with a show for the whole family by award-winning NH magician Andrew Pinard on June 23rd. 

Stop by the library any time in June to sign up for this year's Summer Reading Program, or drop in for our special "Superhero Sign-up" on Saturday, June 20th from 10:30-1:30.